Three held trying to loot policemen in Gurgaon

Three people, involved in several incidents of robbery and snatching, were arrested while trying to rob a police vehicle at gunpoint, police said yesterday. Those arrested were identified as Ajay Rajput (33), from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Waris (19), from Kishangarh, Rajasthan, and Shakeer (21) from Mewat district of Haryana. “They were involved in several cases of loot and robbery in Delhi and Gurgaon. Three members of the gang, including a woman, are yet to be arrested,” said a police officer from the Sector 17 crime branch, the unit which arrested the trio.

Illustration/Amit Bandre

Highway robbers The gang used to offer lifts to people in the looted vehicles. The woman member of the gang, who was either already seated in the vehicle or picked up on the way, would then accuse other passengers of molesting her. The gang took whatever valuables the passengers had on them and threatened them with police action over the “molestation” charge, police said. The gang was mainly active on Delhi’s Mehrauli-Gurgaon road.

Looted on gunpoint On Wednesday night, they stopped the unmarked police vehicle carrying the crime branch team near Sector 55-56 by barricading the road with boulders and a car. They tried to rob the police team in plainclothes at gunpoint but were overpowered by the policemen after a short struggle. They were yesterday presented before a court, which sent them to three days police custody.

The accused told police that nine vehicles stolen from Delhi have been sold in Chennai while six vehicles stolen from Gurgaon have been sold in Bihar. Police also recovered a car, pistol, sharp weapons, laptops, mobile phones, watches and gold items all looted from passengers from the three arrested persons. The woman gang member, who is on the run, has been identified as a resident of Delhi and was earlier arrested by police in Gurgaon on charges of prostitution.